


it echoes a spark

by youmeandem



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 12:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13271208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youmeandem/pseuds/youmeandem
Summary: Kara puts on her nicest, most non-threatening smile. “Any other moment I would’ve agreed with you, but it’s literally past midnight and if you stay here you might get yourself killed, or worse.”Lena lets out a humorless laugh. “If I go with you I might still get killed or worse.”or:i really don't think it's a good idea if you stay here alone at this deserted gas station at 2am why don't you just come with me i'll bring you to a motel instead au





	it echoes a spark

2 AM isn’t a time for anybody to be out, but especially not for pretty young girls. Especially not at a abandoned gas station off an empty highway in the middle of the woods trying to fix their broken down car.

Trying not to scare the girl any more than she probably already has by approaching, Kara rolls down the window of the passenger’s seat, leaning over the console. “Hey, um, I hope this isn’t weird or anything, but do you need a ride?”

The girl, her hand stuffed inside her purse, stares at her with wide eyes. “Are you insane? I’m not getting in a car with a stranger, thank you very much.”

Kara’s eyes flicker over to where the girl is obviously hiding a gun, before she trains them back on the girl’s face. She puts on her nicest, most non-threatening smile. “Any other moment I would’ve agreed with you, but it’s literally past midnight and if you stay here you might get yourself killed, or worse.”

The girl lets out a humorless laugh. “If I go with you I might still get killed or worse.”

“I promise I won’t murder you,” Kara says. “I swear, I’ll just take you to the nearest motel. You can keep that gun on me the entire time, if it makes you feel safer. I just really don’t want you to get hurt, and if you stay here you inevitably will.”

The girl visibly tenses when Kara mentions the gun, but the suggestion does seem to make her more comfortable with the idea of hitchhiking. “This is insane. I’m insane for even considering this.”

“I’m just a girl driving back to college after the holidays.” Kara smiles encouragingly, trying to shake off the thought that she could potentially kill this girl without even touching her. She’s trying to help her, not hurt her. She’s in control of her powers now, anyways. Has been for years. If anything, she’ll use them to protect her. “My name’s Kara, by the way. Kara Danvers.” She reaches out her hand through the open window.

“Lena,” Lena says, shaking Kara’s hand—with her left. Her right hand is still in the purse. Her hands are freezing. Kara figures she shouldn’t be surprised. It’s close to freezing temperatures out here, and her breaths condenses.

Lena shivers from the cold, her leather jacket not looking suitable for this weather at all.

“Come on, I’ll turn the heater on. I think I saw a motel sign a couple miles back. You can check it on your phone, if you want.”

“Phone’s dead,” Lena sighs. “And I can’t charge it, either. I think my car battery is broken or something. It’s too dark to see, though, and these street lanterns don’t really do anything for small details.”

“You can charge it in the car,” Kara pushes. “Tow truck’s not gonna come until the morning anyways.”

Lena looks at her for another moment, then seems to make her decision. She nods. “Okay, fine, you’ve convinced me. But if you murder me I’ll have to shoot you.”

A grin spreads across Kara’s face. “No murder, I promise.”

Lena goes back to her car to close the hood, and get another bag from the trunk. Kara debates getting out of the car to help her, but she doesn’t want to make Lena feel threatened with sudden movements, so she just sits and waits until Lena’s bag is in the back seat and Lena herself is climbing into the passenger’s seat. She’s still holding her purse, not-at-all casually resting her hand on it.

“Do you want to use my phone to look up the nearest motel?” Kara takes her phone out of her pocket. On the lock screen is a picture of her and Alex dressed up as superheroes last Halloween.

“Girlfriend?” Lena asks, eyeing the picture.

Kara smiles. “No, sister.” She unlocks the phone with her thumb, opening Google Maps. “Here you go. Do you mind if we start driving while you look it up? This place gives me the creeps.”

“Sure,” Lena nods, typing something on the screen. It’s quiet for a minute. Then she says, “Nearest motel is about thirty minutes away.”

“Cool,” Kara grins, glancing at Lena from the corner of her eyes. She looks around her age, but she doesn’t look like a college student at all. Her perfume is almost certainly Chanel ®5, and even though her clothes aren’t office appropriate they all have little emblems stitched onto them. Her bag, though, seems to be made by a company Kara’s never heard of.

Who is this girl? She must be well off. Her makeup is impeccable, even at this time of day in this specific location, where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to run into anyone. Her bright red lips are pressed into a thin line, but in the dark it’s nearly impossible to see the exact color of her eyes—other than bright. And, of course, not a hair is out of place from where it’s tied back into a ponytail.

“So…” Kara starts, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. “Where are you from?”

Lena’s shoulders tense ever so slightly, before relaxing. “Metropolis.”

“Seriously? My cousin lives there. But he’s actually from Smallville, in Kansas. You probably never heard of it. It’s a—”

“Small town?” Lena cracks a careful grin at Kara’s baffled expression. “Wasn’t hard to guess, with a town that literally has ‘small’ in the name.”

“Oh.” Kara laughs. “Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, it’s kind of late.”

“Speaking of which…  I know why I’m out this late, but why are _you_ still driving around? Isn’t it just as dangerous for you as it is for me?”

“I know how to defend myself,” Kara shrugs, unsure if shooting literal lasers out of your eyes and being able to lift entire trucks with one hand can really still count as self-defense. “My sister is with the FBI. She taught me some tricks.” It’s only half a lie.

“I also know how to defend myself,” Lena says, patting her purse. “I won’t hesitate to use this thing, you know? Especially not on some gross trucker.”

Kara tries to hold back a smile. “Good.”

It’s quiet for another while, and Kara’s anxious to fill the silence. She likes talking to Lena, not at all worried about the fact that she has a loaded gun, while at the same time not wanting to come across as annoying. She already convinced her to get into the car with her, she doesn’t want to push her luck.

Just when she’s about to ask if she can turn on the radio, Lena breaks the silence. “So where are _you_ from?”

“Me? Oh, Midvale. Born and raised in Midvale. But I celebrated Christmas and New Year’s at my cousin’s in Smallville. My mom and sister were there, too, but Alex doesn’t trust my driving so she’s going back with Sam instead.”

“You—wait, what? Who’s Alex?”

Kara frowns. “My sister.”

“And Sam is the boyfriend?”

“Girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

“You’re not homophobic, are you? Because I’ll kick you out of the car if you are.”

Lena laughs. “No, Kara, I’m not homophobic.”

Kara’s heart jumps a little when Lena says her name, but she tries to brush it off to a bump in the road. “Okay, good. Because, you know, that’d be crappy of you.”

“Glad to hear we agree on that,” Lena grins, visibly more relaxed than fifteen minutes ago. “You said you were going back to college, right? Where’s that? West coast?”

“National City University,” Kara nods. “I’m a junior.”

“Wait, seriously? Me too! What’s your major?”

“Marketing. What’s yours?”

“Biomedical engineering,” Lena says, a hint of pride in her voice. “My brother did the same, but at MetU.”

Kara looks at her then, a thin, delicate layer of sadness settling down on Lena. “Why did you move across the country? I mean, I know I did because Alex did and I spent two years in Midvale with our mom and it was boring and I missed her.”

Lena gives her a soft smile. “Just needed some distance from my family, I guess. My, um,” she hesitates. “My dad died a couple years ago, and it’s never really been the same, you know? I don’t have a good relationship with my mom, and my brother never has time for me anymore. I wanted a fresh start.” She sighs, looking over at Kara.

Their eyes lock for a moment, and Kara’s heart’s racing when she focuses back on the road again. She wants to say something, but everything she can think of seems inappropriate. Here she is, talking about how she couldn’t stand being away from Alex, while Lena couldn’t wait to be away from her family. She wants to hug Lena, but she has to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel if she doesn’t want to end up wrapped around a tree.

So she opts for reaching out and letting her hand hover over Lena’s arm, giving Lena plenty of time to pull away, before gently touching her forearm. “Sorry your family sucks.”

Lena lets out a shaky laugh. “It’s okay, Kara. Really. I’m used to it.”

Kara squeezes her arm. “My dad died, too,” she offers. “Both my parents did, actually. I’m adopted, but Clark’s my biological cousin… it’s complicated.”

“Same here, sort of? I recently found out my dad is actually my biological dad, too. Turns out he wasn’t the saint I once thought he was.” Lena lets go of her purse to put her hand on top of Kara’s, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb over the back of it.

Kara holds her breath, forcing herself to remain perfectly still while her face grows hotter and hotter until she can’t stand it anymore. She rips her hand away from Lena’s, pretending to focus on the road in front of them, but still hyper aware of the warm imprint where Lena’s palm touched her hand.

It’s just that Lena’s really pretty and Kara’s always been weak for pretty girls.

Lena clears her throat. “Uh, sorry if I overshared. I didn’t mean to.”

“What? No! No, that’s not it at all. You’re fine. I mean, it’s okay. Really. Doesn’t matter. Share everything you want. Okay, maybe not everything, but if you wanna talk about your brother or your mom or your dad or anything at all that’s totally cool. Like, feel free. Really. I don’t mind.” Kara stumbles over the words, making everything worse and even more awkward. She just needs to stop talking, she decides. She fumbles with her glasses, almost snapping them in half from squeezing too hard.

But Lena doesn’t seem freaked out. If anything, she looks more relaxed than ever. She’s leaning back in her seat, and her smile reaches her eyes. “You okay there?”

“Y-yeah. Totally.” Kara forces a smile, eliciting another laugh from Lena.

“You’re cute. I can’t believe I thought you were gonna murder me.”

Kara’s face, if possible, flushes even more, and she almost chokes on her breath. She had a lot more cool before getting to know Lena, but it’s better this way, somehow. “Oh. I mean, I could still murder you. Don’t trust strangers, and all that.”

“Nah, you’re too nice to commit murder,” Lena says. “Not everyone would’ve picked up a stranger from the side of the road, you know? That’s also a risk in itself.”

Kara can’t help but smile at that. Doing something good is all she ever wanted, and even if she’s not using her powers directly it does help make her feel able to protect Lena, and other girls, if necessary. “Maybe you’re right.”

Lena smiles back at her, and for the rest of the trip Kara’s heart is racing against her chest.

They drive for another ten minutes, chatting about everything; from their favorite foods (“What do you mean you don’t like potstickers? They’re literally the best thing in the world.”) to the pros and cons of being the younger sibling (“Alex and I used to hate each other. I used to hog the bathroom, and somehow Alex got blamed for us being late in the mornings. As the eldest, she was supposed to be the responsible one. But I also got all her old clothes, even the ones that were really unfashionable.”).

When they pull up on the parking lot of a motel, it doesn’t feel like they’ve only known each other for thirty minutes at all.

“I’ll wait here until you have a room. Don’t want you to get stranded out here now, do we?”

Lena looks down at her hands. “Thank you, Kara. I don’t know what could’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Not much, probably,” Kara shrugs. “I may have exaggerated the dangers a bit.” She sighs. “I guess I just really didn’t like the idea of you sitting out there in the woods, all on your own.”

“Yeah, but still. Thank you.” Lena’s eyes flicker up to her face. Her eyes are bright green in the ugly, fluorescent lights of the motel.

She’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Kara swallows. “So… um.”

“Yeah,” Lena says, softly. For a moment it’s so quiet Kara can hear Lena’s heart beating. Then Lena bites her lip. “Since we’re both apparently living in National City, do you want to get coffee with me sometime? I’d like to see you again, if that’s something you’d want, too.”

“Yes,” Kara says immediately. “Yes, I’d like that a lot.”

Lena lets out a relieved breath, her entire face lighting up when she smiles. “Can I have your number, then? Makes it easier to plan a date.”

“A date?”

“If you want.”

Kara nods, her mouth suddenly dry. Lena rummages through her bag to find a pen and a piece of paper, and Kara has to focus on making sure her hand isn’t shaking too hard for her handwriting to still be legible. When she hands Lena the pen and paper back, their fingers briefly touch, and Kara knows she’s only known Lena for thirty minutes but—wow.

She watches as Lena gets out of the car and takes her bag from the back seat.

“Thank you again, Kara,” Lena says, through the half open passenger’s door. “See you soon.”

“See you soon, Lena.”

Kara has to sit and stare in the car for a few more minutes to catch her breath and wrap her head around what just happened. If a date with the prettiest girl she’s ever seen is what she gets for playing the hero, she should really do it more often.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from flicker by niall horan
> 
> if you liked it please leave kudos and/or a comment and/or come find me on twitter @luthvers, tumblr (lenacorporations) or [buy me a coffee](http://ko-fi.com/youmeandem)


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